When it comes to articulating a rationale for gun safety laws, even the oratory skills of President Obama seem to come up short. Leave it, instead, to a comedian, Australian stand-up Jim Jefferies. His hilarious, but easy to understand arguments slay the Second amendment. In a sense, he brings a drone to a gun fight during his current FreeDumb tour.
One of the more effective arguments for gun rights is that they are needed for protection of oneself or family. This argument persists despite statistics showing that guns are predominantly used in criminal homicides, not for protection. A study by the Violence Policy Center, via the Washington Post, shows guns between 2008 and 2012 were used in 42,419 criminal homicides and only 1,108 justifiable homicides -- defined as the killing of a felon during the commission of a felony by a private citizen.
Jim Jefferies' comedy act does something dry statistics can't. "The main one is that I need it for protection. I need it to protect me. I need to protect my family," said Jefferies. "Really? Is that why they are called assault rifles? Is it? I have never heard of these fucking protection rifles you speak of."
The comedian used a horrific burglary that happened to him and his girlfriend to show gun ownership rarely protects you against burglars.
"I had a break in in Manchester, England where I was tied up. I had my head cut. They threatened to rape my girlfriend. They came through the window with a machete and hammer. Americans always go, Imagine if you had a gun. Alright, I was naked at the time. I wasn't wearing my holster. I was staring at the window waiting for machetes to come through. What world do you live in where you are waiting constantly fuckin' ready?"
The Australian understands our constitution and knows our history better than most Americans. He pointed out during the act that the arguments to keep the second amendment were similar to those proffered by Southerners to keep slavery.
Jefferies said, "You can not change the second amendment. I am like yes you can. It is called an amendment. If you can't change something called an amendment... See, many of you need a thesaurus. If you don't know what a thesaurus, get a dictionary and work your way forward. Don't think your constitution is set in stone. You have changed things before. You used to have prohibition in there. Right? Then people were like 'hey who likes getting fucked up? I like getting fucked up too. Let's get that one out.' You used to have this other thing in America called slavery."